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Effective presentation
Hints for making your presentation effective You often fail to use some presentation techniques, which you can find in the book "Presenting in English", so I offer you some concise recommendations. WHAT MAKES YOUR PRESENTATION EFFECTIVE? Structuring your presentation ' Greeting ' ' Introduce yourself' ''' Outline your talk' ' Present main part divided into ' ' Point 1''' ' Point 2 ' ' Point 3' ' Summarise main points' ' Conclude talk' ' Invite questions' The introduction Remember......... ''' .... first impressions count. '''So............... ''' .......................... let the audience see your best qualities. In particular................ ........................... try to be.......... • Organised - make your plan "transparent" • Human - make some reference to the immediate situation (beware "jokes") and relax • Fluent - learn this part perfectly • Brief - the audience have come for the information '''Key Phrases: 1. I'd like to........... .............. say a few words to you today about............. ............... talk to you today about............. ............... explain to you today the main features of.................... ............... describe the operation of............ 2. I shall take only about 15 minutes of your time. I aim to talk to you for only about 15 minutes. This will take about half an hour. 3. To illustrate my talk................ ................ I'll be using some OHP transparencies. ................ I've brought along a few slides. ................ I intend to show you some diagrams. 4. I've divided my talk into 5 main parts. The subject can be looked at under 5 main headings. During my talk I'll be looking at 5 main areas. First(ly)............. second(ly)............... third(ly).............. fourth........... fifth........... finally 5. If you have any questions............... ...... please feel free to interrupt ...... I'll be glad to try to answer them at end of my talk Link phrases You have already looked at key phrases you can use to introduce your presentation. Let us now look at ways of showing your audience what point you have reached in the structure of your presentation. These are rather like traffic lights; they tell your audience if you are stopping or starting, turning right or left: Starting your first point To start with... First of all. then... Firstly.... Let me begin by saying... Finishing a point Well, that's all I have to say about... So that. then. is... That's all about.... Now we've dealt with .... Starting a new point Now let's turn to my next point, which is ... Let's move on now to ... The next point I'd like to make is ... Next we come to ... Turning now to ... Leaving the structure Incidentally ... By the way ... Returning to your structure Coming back to the subject of my talk ... To come back to ... Referring back As I was saying earlier... As I mentioned earlier... If you remember, I said at the beginning ... Referring forward As we will see later, ... Later, we'll be looking at... Later, I'd like to look at... Introducing your last point And finally. ... Lastly. ... That brings me to my last point, which is ... Summarising So now. I'd just like to summarise the main points. In brief, we have looked at... Let me sum up. Concluding In conclusion.......... Well, that brings me to the end of my talk ... That's all I have to say for now ... Thank you for your attention. Thank you for listening. Inviting questions And now. if you have any questions. I'll be glad to try to answer them. Does anyone have any questions? Are there any questions? Any questions0 .... Yes. your question, please. Checking that the questioner is satisfied Does that answer your question? I hope that answers your question. Inviting further questions Are there any more questions? Any more questions? Ending If there are no more questions. I'd like to thank you for your attention. ''Handling questions ' These are useful language items. You are not expected to use them all in every presentation you give. You don’t have to learn them either. What you should do is to check that you can use at least one phrase from each section. ' ' Inviting questions''' *You are welcome to ask questions. *No doubt you have many questions, so … *If there are any questions, I’ll be glad/pleased/happy to answer them. *(Does anyone have) any questions? *I have given you an overview of the situation, and I am sure some of you might like more information about some areas, so who would like to begin with the first question? *Who would like more detail? *I’d like to invite your questions and comments. *So, let's throw it open to questions. No questions *No questions? In that case, I’m glad that I’ve managed to make everything clear. I would just like to repeat that I truly consider that … Thank you for your time. ' Welcoming the question' *Good point! *Mmmm – good question. *That’s a very good question/point. *I’m glad you’ve asked that. ' A member of the audience doesn’t ask a question, but expresses his/her view (which agrees with yours)' *Well, thank you for that comment. Next question? *Thank you for filling us in on what is happening in this field. Next question? ' Asking the presenter for clarification (Clarifying questions)' *When you mentioned…., did you mean to say that…? *When you say …, do you mean…? *I’m sorry I’m not quite clear about what you meant by... Could you explain it/that again? *You said … Does/Doesn’t that mean ….? *Could you explain what you mean, please? *What do you mean exactly be saying that…? *I’m not clear from what you said if/whether you support the idea or not. *Is it fair to say that …? '' Questions from the audience '' *What about …? Direct *Please tell me … *You talked about … . *Could/Can/Will you comment on that further? Could you please elaborate on this topic/your vision of…? (Present some facts). Could I ask you what you make of that? Could you tell me when/how/what/where/how long/how much(many) + subject + verb (indirect question) *Excuse me, I would like to know how/when/what/who/which/whose + subject + verb (indirect question) *Do you happen to know …? *Perhaps you could tell me … *Could you possibly tell me ...? *Would you mind telling me …? *I wonder if I could ask you how/when…? I wonder if/whether you could say a little more about …? *I was wondering if you could tell me … Tentative '' Asking the questioner for clarification'' *Are you asking about/if…? *So, (what you’re asking is …)… *If I’ve understood the question correctly, you would like to know… *So, you’d like some information about/an explanation for… *Are you referring to …, or …? *Could you make it plain? *I’m afraid I didn’t understand your question. *Well, the question is … . Is that right? *Let me check that I’ve understood your question. You are asking … *I’m afraid I don’t quite see what you mean. *Sorry, I don’t follow (you). *Sorry, I’m not with you. *Could yon go over that again? *I'm not sure what you're getting at. Postponing the answer *I’ll be dealing with that a little later on, so if you don’t mind I’d rather answer that question then. *I’ll be coming to that, so if you don’t mind I won’t answer your question straightaway. But I won’t forget. ' Answering the question' *The fact is that… *I think that is a very good point. I would answer it by saying that… *I think it is a question of … *Well all I can say to you is… *The one thing that is interesting is that … *Responding to the first part of your question, I would like to say that… As regards (in relation to) the second part of your question concerning … *The one thing I’d like to say… *The whole point about (the present situation) is that… *That’s a difficult question to answer in a few words. It could be…/I would say…/In my experience … ' Checking your answer' *Is that OK? *Is that clearer now? *Does that answer your question? *Have I made myself clear? *May we go on? ' ' Repeating the point *Going back to what I was saying … *As I was saying … *I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear. The situation is … (repeat the point briefly). Handling difficult or hostile questions ' 1. 'Show you understand · Yes, I quite see your point. · Yes, it’s something we’ve thought about a lot. · That’s an accurate/relevant observation. · This is a question that obviously we have to discuss. · I take all of that on board. · I appreciate your opinion/view/vision. · I agree (couldn’t agree more). But on the other hand, … · Your remark/question makes sense. · This question is to the point. · I can understand your concern. But… · You need have no worries on that point. I can assure you that … (giving reassurance) 2. 'Introduce an alternative point of view' · However/But, I know you’ll understand/appreciate… And there’s another point, … · I’m sure you can see the value of that. · We’ve thought a lot about that. But, there is the other side to this question…. · But look at it from another perspective… · Yes, I think it is important, but perhaps even more important is … · But there is another important aspect to this problem… 3. 'Evade by not accepting responsibility' · I’m afraid I’m not the right person to answer that. · (Name) is a much better person to answer that. · Actually, it’s not for me to comment on that. You should ask (name). · I’m afraid I’m not in a position to answer that question. · I’m not responsible for this. You’d better ask (name). · It’s beyond my scope. · I’m afraid that’s not my field, really. Perhaps (name) would be able to help. · I’m not an authority/expert on this issue. · I don’t have much experience in that field… 4. Evade by delay · Could we leave that till later? (Can we talk about that on another occasion?) · That is scheduled for discussion at the next meeting. · I’m not sure this is the right place/time to discuss this question. · Actually, I don’t have these figures on me. Could I speak to you later?/I can give them to you later. · We’re hoping to talk about it at the meeting next week. · I don’t want to say anything at this stage. It will be discussed … · I’d prefer to leave that point for now. I’ll be dealing with it specifically later in the presentation. · I can’t specify it now, but what I can say to you is … · I’m afraid I’m not able to answer that at present. · That’s quite a difficult question to answer briefly. Can I get back to you on that after the presentation? · 5. 'Refuse to answer ' · You’re asking for specific details, on a hypothetical basis and speculative questions, and I can’t answer those questions. · That’s not really the subject of my presentation today, but I’ll be happy to talk to you about that after we’re finished here. · I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that one. Perhaps someone here can help us out? · I’m sorry I don’t know the answer to that, but what I will do is find out and send/give you an answer before the end of the week. · I’m afraid that’s outside the scope of my talk. If I were you, I’d discuss that with … ' Asking for repetition' *Sorry. I’m not quite with you. Could you repeat that? *Sorry, I missed that. *Sorry, I didn’t catch that/what you said. *Sorry/Pardon. (with a rising tone) *Excuse me. I didn’t hear. *Sorry, could you say that again, please? *Would you mind repeating your question?